Execution of the killers of Al-Aghbari amid strict security measures

YEMEN: EXECUTION OF THE KILLERS OF YOUNG MAN AL-AGHBARI AMID STRICT SECURITY MEASURES

September 8, 2021:

A court under the control of the Houthi militia in Sanaa on 6 September 2021 executed four convicts for the murder of Abdullah Al-Aghbari, 19, whose death in August last year under brutal torture led to the largest popular protest in the militias’ areas of northern Yemen.
Al-Aghbari’s lawyer, Wadah Qutaish, confirmed in a post on his Facebook account that the four convicts were executed amid strict security measures and in the presence of blood relatives. He pointed out that “some merchants, philanthropists and the parents of the convicts” made a last attempt to obtain a pardon, but “the guardians of blood chose to take refuge with fairness of justice,” as he put it.
The sentence was carried out in the fortified reformatory known as the “Central Prison” north of Sana’a, in the presence of the blood guardians’ representative, and amid strict security measures.
Eyewitnesses said that the security forces dispersed with live bullets a crowd of demonstrators who had gathered in the vicinity of the notorious detention center, seeking amnesty, and prevented cameras and recording machines.
Abdullah Al-Aghbari had worked at a cell phone store operated by Abdullah Al-Sibae, one of the convicts.
Two weeks following the murder, videos from surveillance cameras in the room where he was tortured circulated on social media platforms.
The four convicts who were executed by firing squad are Abdullah al-Sibai, Walid al-Amri, Muhammad al-Hamidi and Dalil al-Jerba.
The four convicts wore blue prison clothes and fired live bullets at them, in the second public execution by the Houthi group since mid-June, where three convicts were executed, including a man who killed his three daughters after putting them in a water tank, and two other men who raped and killed a child before disposing of his body.
The appeal ruling in Al-Aghbari’s case had decided in December last year to amend the initial ruling to the death penalty against only four convicts instead of five, and to reduce the penalties for the fifth and sixth defendants, within judicial procedures that neglected the public right and kept the door open regarding the motives of the horrific incident.
Young Abdullah Al-Aghbari was killed on 26 August of last year by a “gang” of several people, during a 6-hour torture session, in a crime that was met with outrage after leaking videos and photos of this crime, which turned into a public opinion case.
Activists stated that the convicts tortured the victim on charges of stealing mobile phones from the shop in which he works, while others stated that the reason for the crime was Al-Aghbari’s blackmailing of girls who frequented the shop to repair their phones.
The forensic doctor’s report listed a shocking number of signs of brutal torture to which Al-Aghbari was subjected, including 573 lashes with wires, 187 slaps, and 88 punches. It was also added in the prosecution’s indictment that the defendants attacked him with direct brutal means that were enough to take his life.